


Thin Blue Line

by EmiQueenieArrow



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Airman - Freeform, Arson, Badass female character, Crime, F/M, Firefighter, Lost Limb, Thin Blue Line, US Air Force, friends - Freeform, hero - Freeform, police officer, unstoppable - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-28 03:58:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12597632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmiQueenieArrow/pseuds/EmiQueenieArrow
Summary: A small town police officer blows into Chicago following a walking tragedy. She quickly bonds with Antonio and the two are nearly impossible to stop. Their team helps bring down one criminal but that can't always stop the terrible things from happening. Will the repercussions of their successful take down be too much to handle?





	1. Chapter 1

The young girl pulled nervously at her dyed red hair as she walked into the 21st district precinct. "Here I go." She approached the desk sergeant. "Hi, I'm Detective Kayla Ray. I'm here for, uh..." She pulled the paper from her pocket. "...Dawson?" She only got a blank stare. "Um, Sergeant... Platt?" She glanced at her name tag. 

"She's in one of her moods." Kayla turned around and saw the patrolman that was talking to her. "I'm Officer Roman and this is my partner Officer Burgess. We can take you up to Dawson. Just follow us."

She smiled at him and followed the two partners. When the trio reached the top of the staircase, Voight was leaning on Lindsay's desk, talking to her. "Hey Sergeant, this is..." Burgess turned to her. "I don't think I caught your name."

She smiled at Burgess. "My name is Detective Kayla Ray. I'm here from Pittsboro, North Carolina."

Antonio stood up from his desk and shook her hand. "Antonio Dawson. We spoke to each other on the phone."

"Nice to finally meet you."

"I'm Sergeant Voight. This is Detective Erin Lindsay, Detective Jay Halstead, Detective Al Olinksy, Officer Kevin Atwater, and Officer Adam Ruzek." Kayla gave them all a silent nod. "Now, let's go over the basics. Over the past 2 or 3 weeks, there has been a sharp increase in unsolved arson cases so the Chicago Fire Department is asking us to help solve them. Turns out the Pittsboro Police Department is looking for the same guy." He handed the floor to Kayla. 

"Pittsboro is a small rural town with just about 4,000 people. In the past two years, 5 people have died in house fires including a firefighter, 6 farms have been burned to the ground, and there has been over 800 million dollars in damage. And we had the guy but he burned the police station down, somehow." She pulled a file from her messenger bag and pulled a picture out. "His name is Spencer Johnson. He is Pittsboro born and raised and his family is the wealthiest in the entire county. We've tried charging him with all of the murders and arsons multiple times but the judge wouldn't even give us a warrant, so he's probably corrupt." She walked over and put the picture of Spencer on the board. 

Halstead shook his head. "How do you know the fires here are linked to the ones there?"

"Because after my station was burned down, Spencer disappeared until we got wind of your arson cases. Also, he leaves his mark. Have you been informed that these fires have been burning significantly higher than most accidental and arson fires?"

Ruzek checked his copy of the files. "Yeah, most fires are about 1,000 degrees."

"And these fires burned at temperatures over 5,000. That turns a firefighter's turn out gear to dust in a second flat." She pulled another picture from her file and handed it to Antonio. His eyebrows raised when he saw the damage done. "That fireman burned to death before they even knew something was wrong." Antonio shook his head and passed the picture to Lindsay. "It's because Spencer is a chemist, using materials from his daddy's experimental chemical plants to create this stuff that burns so hot. Labs can't even begin to analyze what he uses."

Voight knocked on the board and got everyone's attention. "Alright! We have the informant line set up. We have alerts out with his picture, license plate, and his phone. We need to be on top of this. Halstead and Lindsay, map out his attacks here and NC and what kind of buildings or farms they are. Let's find a pattern. Atwater, Olinsky, Ruzek, hit the streets. Get something from our CI's. Antonio and Ray, compile information. Burgess and Roman, patrol. Make sure you have pictures of him. Ask anyone on street if they have seen him. Let's go!"

Antonio took Kayla into the break room so they could spread out all of her files and his. He handed her a cup of coffee which she graciously accepted. "This is not a lot to go on."

Antonio nodded in agreement but then had a thought. "I know we'll get him, we have to for my sister's sake." Kayla raised an eyebrow at her new partner. "She's a firefighter in the city. I will do whatever I can to make sure she doesn't walk into one of his fires."

"Yeah, I understand that. After he set the first two, they had to start checking the temperatures with thermal cameras before firefighters were allowed in." 

"We might need to start taking that precaution. Let's head down to the fire station and brief the lieutenants."

"Sounds good." She followed Antonio downstairs to the car and watched out the windows as they drove. "The city is gorgeous. I have never been to a big city."

"You mean you've stayed in Pittsboro your entire life?"

"Mostly, yeah. I've only been to Raleigh and even then it was for the airport. I didn't get a chance to go downtown."

"Wow. You are the definition of a small town girl."

"Oh yeah. Everyone in Pittsboro knows who I am and everything about me, including when my then boyfriend was about to propose to me, even when I didn't." He looked over at her in surprise. 

"Really?"

She laughed when she looked over at him and saw his glances. "Yeah, really. I am the definition of a Southern Belle. Except the housewife part. I mean, my house is the stereotypical white house with a green tin roof. I have 2 big dogs. I was the prom queen and I married my high school sweetheart, the captain of the football team. It's like it's straight from a fairy tale."

"You aren't kidding." He parked the car in the station driveway and they hopped out. He took her to the day room where most of the firefighters were. 

Boden walked in the room and glanced at the detectives. "Please give your undivided attention to Detective Dawson."

Antonio nodded a thanks to Boden. "As you know there has been a rash of arson fires. I know from your logs that you have fought two of them. You might remember them. You weren't allowed in the building."

"Yeah, could you explain why?" Gabby looked at her brother. 

Kayla stepped forward. "That I can tell you. I'm Detective Kayla Ray from the Pittsboro Police Department in North Carolina. This arsonist is one of my citizens. He has access to very expensive and extremely dangerous substances. Those fires you had to stay clear of were burning at over 5,000 degrees." 

They all looked at each other. "Why is he here? Why did he come to Chicago?" Severide looked at Kayla with slight panic on his face as he asked the question everyone was thinking. 

"I don't know why he came here. My guess is he wanted to get away from me. I nearly had him. Now, I will give you guys his picture so if you go to a fire and see him in the area, you call me at once. Do not engage him and don't go anywhere near the building. Make sure to check heat levels with the TIC or a heat gun before you go in. I know that's a lot to ask of you but I'm trying to make sure he doesn't kill another firefighter."

Casey nodded his head. "Of course. But how did they find out he was here?"

Antonio frowned. "You heard of the three firemen that died two weeks ago, right?"

Casey's face fell. "They didn't even know what they were going into."

Kayla held up the mugshots before walking to the table and dropping the stack. Antonio pulled Gabby out into the hallway and Kayla leaned against the wall next to them. "Sis, please. Don't go running in without checking the thermal camera." Antonio's phone vibrated. "We have to get back to the precinct. Please stay safe." She nodded and they hugged before the two cops walked back out to Antonio's car.


	2. Chapter 2

Kayla stood staring at the board. "These buildings have nothing in common."

Halstead sighed. "I know. That's what makes it so frustrating. It's all at random. How are we supposed to catch this guy?"

She shook her head before turning to Halstead. "I have no idea. We better get lucky or get a lead very soon." 

Voight leaned against the board and looked at Kayla. "You should get some sleep. You have been here all day."

She looked up at Voight. "I don't see you guys stopping anytime soon. I can hang. I'm good." She got up and went back to the break room where Ruzek and Lindsay were looking at everything they had spread out on the table. 

"She's high spirited." Halstead said as he watched her explain her files to Lindsay. 

Voight was watching her closely. "Why did she do that to her hair?"

"I think the vibrant red looks good on her."

Voight shook his head. "I don't understand young people." He retreated to his office as Halstead laughed and walked to get himself a cup of coffee. 

Erin snapped. "Let's set up a profile for the type of people he hangs around and then try to scope out some people that fit the profile." 

Kayla nodded at Lindsay. "Sounds like a good idea." She pulled a list from the other side of the table. "These are his known associates in Pittsboro. These people are all terrible but share one thing in common. They are rich, upper class citizens who usually don't have a criminal record because they can pay off the judges."

"We have plenty of those here in Chicago. I can think of three guys right off the top of my head. Might as well start with them. Why don't we go visit them?"

"Works with me." The two girls told Voight their plan and grabbed their vests and headed downstairs. They drove to the nice, big houses in the neighbor hood of Lakeview. Kayla looked at them in wonder. "Man, to have this much money." They hopped out of the police car and went to the door.

"I know." Lindsay slammed her fist on the door. 

A young guy around Spencer's age opened the door and frowned. "What is it Detective?" 

Lindsay held up the picture of Spencer. "Do you know him?"

"I've never seen him in my life."

Erin looked at Kayla and they laughed. "Wow. Why would anyone believe that lie?"

"It's the truth." They both heard something falling and crashing and footsteps on the stairs. Erin pushed her way inside and Kayla followed, gun drawn. While Lindsay was detaining the kid that opened the door, Kayla took off after the person wearing a green hoodie that came down the stairs and took off toward the back of the house. 

"Stop! Police!" She almost had him. She grabbed the back of his sweatshirt. She pulled his hood back but her grip wasn't tight enough and he freed himself from her grasp. He glanced back as he kept running and she saw his face. She pulled her phone from her pocket. "This is Detective Ray, I am in pursuit of Spencer Johnson. Send backup."

"We're one block away." Spencer dashed across the road, barely being missed by cars. Kayla ran after him, almost being clipped by a bike in the process. They went over every fence and he threw everything he could in her direction, doing whatever he could to slow her down. He did so successfully when he pulled a pile of boxes down in her path. She stopped. "Spencer!" She made it over the barrier but had lost sight of him. "Damn it!" A blacked out Cadillac pulled up and Halstead and Antonio got out. "I lost him. He pulled a pile of boxes down and I lost him." She tried catching her breath as she made a fist and cursed to herself. 

"Next time. Right now, we have his friend in custody. Let's go." She nodded and got in the car with the other detectives. At the precinct, she stood outside the interrogation room with Antonio while Erin and Jay were talking to the kid, a kid that went by the name of Mike Richards. 

"Why was Spencer Johnson in your house?" Erin asked calmly. 

"I don't know who that is."

"Yes, you do. And I'm willing to bet that you know what he's been up to ever since he came to Chicago." That struck a nerve and his face started to look scared. "Right now, you are an accessory to murder."

"Where is my lawyer? He should be here by now."

Halstead smiled. "He's downstairs talking to our commander. They've been golf buddies for a long time. I would give them about at least a few hours or so to catch up with each other."

Voight walked in and stood behind Kayla. "How are things going?"

Antonio shook his head. "Not good. He keeps claiming he doesn't know Spencer even though the guy was in his house."

He nodded. "Okay. Let's try another tactic." 

He went in the room and Jay and Erin walked out. Antonio knew what Voight would do and he wasn't sure if Kayla would be open to that method of interrogation. "You could use a break." He attempted to get her out of the room.

"No thanks." Kayla's jaw was clenched and she did not look happy. "I want to stay here. I don't care what you guys do. I don't care how you handle your interrogations."

"Then come on. Let's go in there with him." She stood in the corner of the room with Antonio and didn't even flinch when Voight slammed the kid's head into the cold, metal table. 

"Where is Spencer?" His voice was calm. 

"Hey, you can't hurt me! That's illegal!"

"Then tell us where he is. And you better hurry. We are getting really impatient."

Mike turned to look at Kayla. "Detective Ray."

"So Spencer told you about me." She came out of the corner and stood right next to Voight. 

"Yeah. He told me some detective with whorish red hair was after him."

"Well now that you've admitted to knowing him, why don't you tell us where he is?"

"Why would I give him up?"

"I don't know. So we could catch him before he finds out you were taken into custody and he burns you alive."

His cocky smile faltered. "He wouldn't do that."

"Then you don't know anything about your new friend. He is insane, beyond reason, and if he thinks there is any chance you are compromised, he will end you in the most painful and slow way possible."

He thought for a second then glanced at Voight. "I don't know where he is right now. He's probably with some of the people he met through me." Kayla pulled a small note pad out of her pocket and dropped it and a pen in front of him. 

"Give me all of the names." She left the room with Antonio and went to grab coffee. 

"Wow. You really know this Spencer kid."

"I always knew he was off, even when he was in high school. I would see him around town at the festivals and there was just some dark and sickening thing about him."

"You will catch this guy. He doesn't know we have a lead on him."

"We need to put the royal pain in the ass in there in protective custody." She closed her eyes and put her hands on the sides of her face. 

"You look tired."

"I'm fine. I just need some more coffee." Kayla picked up her cup and took a long sip. 

"When was the last time you ate?"

She shrugged. "I had some chips for breakfast."

"That's over 12 hours without food." Antonio checked his watch and shook his head. "How about I take you to dinner then take you back to your hotel? You need rest and some real food." Kayla almost opened her mouth to protest but he stopped her. "Let's go." She groaned but followed him. 

Antonio took her to a burger place that was open 24 hours a day. They walked in and sat at a booth together. "Thanks Antonio. I get caught up in my cases sometimes."

"Everyone does at some point."

Kayla smiled and dipped her fry into the ketchup. "But I love the satisfaction of getting the guy that's caused pain and misery."

"That is a great feeling, knowing you got them." Antonio watched as Kayla pulled her hair up into a ponytail. He noticed scarring all the way from her hair line to the front of her shoulder. "What happened there?"

"Oh, my burn?" He nodded. "It happened while I was deployed. I was on the ground for once and one guy had a flame thrower or something. He mostly missed me but I lost three of my fellow airman."

"Okay, start from the beginning."

Kayla raised an eyebrow then smiled. "What do you mean?"

"What was your first job?"

"Firefighter." 

Antonio laughed. "You have to be the world's most interesting person."

"I know." She took a drink from her water. "So I was a firefighter for 5 years then I went into the Air Force. I was a pilot and a firefighter. I did that for 2 tours then came home although I'm still a reserve pilot. I decided after one more year at my normal firefighting job that I wanted a change. At this point I was 30. I had no clue what I was going to do. My cousin is a patrolman in the department and he approached me saying that I would be a great fit for law enforcement. So I decided to give it a shot. I solved a few big cases, well helped solve, as a patrolman. 2 years later and here I am. An arson detective, a major crimes detective, and the fire department liaison."

"You are incredible." She laughed at Antonio's expression. "That is easily the coolest thing I have ever heard. You would really get along with Halstead. He was a Ranger."

Kayla nodded. "I wonder how many times I saved his ass."

"So why did you come here alone? Where is your partner?"

She laughed at that. "My partner is a 72 year old man that they can't get rid of so he sleeps in the office all day. The one time he talked to me, he yelled at me for my hair color."

"I've actually been wanting to ask why your department allows that."

She scoffed. "They know they can't lose me. I'm too valuable of an asset."

After they ate their food they sat there, just looking at each other and sipping on their decaffeinated coffee. "So what does your husband do?"

"He's a firefighter and so is my sister."

"Is there anyone in your family that isn't a hero?"

She shook her head. "Oh no. My father is an Army General but I didn't really grow up around him because my mother didn't want to move around a lot so we stayed in Pittsboro and he went everywhere. And my mother was a paramedic for 15 years before she retired and became the manager of a factory."

"I can only imagine weddings with your family is a lot of formal uniforms."

"You would be right." Kayla pulled her phone from her pocket. She showed him a picture of her and another woman. She had brown hair with blue, pale pink, and white pieces in it. "That's my sister Justice." The next picture was of her and a man with tan skin and long hair. He had it pulled sloppily out of his face. There were two dogs on the steps behind him. "This is my husband Grant and my dogs." The next picture was of a historic courthouse. "This is our symbolic courthouse. It's been there since the late 1800's."

"I have got to see this town for myself. It sounds amazing."

"And let me tell you that most of your vacation will be spent in Chapel Hill. Pittsboro is all farms and a few artists scattered here and there."

He shrugged. "I'm sure it wouldn't be too bad if I had a local show me around."

She smiled. "Maybe." It was Kayla's turn to ask the questions. "So what about your family?"

"I have two kids, Diego and Eva."

Kayla's voice was quiet. "I'm assuming you and your wife don't get along since you didn't mention her."

He shook his head. "No. My job bled into our home life. She divorced me and I can't see my kids." 

Kayla put a hand over his. "I'm sorry, Antonio." 

He carefully took hold of her hand. "Yeah. It comes with the territory."


	3. Chapter 3

When Antonio left Kayla's hotel room, she was already asleep on her unmade bed. He covered her with the blankets and went back to his own place for some rest. 

Bright and early in the morning, Antonio walked into the precinct and saw Kayla sitting at his desk on his computer. "Well good morning Kayla."

"Oh, hey." She smiled up at him then looked at the computer. "Sorry, I was trying to catch some scraps on the names Mike gave us and Voight said it was okay to use your computer."

"No, it's fine." He pulled a chair up next to her. "Anything?"

"Nothing really. A few mentions of past charges but none of the cases ever stuck."

Voight walked over to the two as they kept going through the computer files. "Get ready. We are splitting into teams to go to these addresses." He handed Antonio the sheet. "It's you two and Halstead."

"Come on Kayla. We better get to work." 

They had been checking houses for two hours and the other two were getting bored but Kayla insisted they keep going strong. While enroute to the next house, the red head was eerily quiet. 

Antonio decided it was up to him to lighten her mood. "Halstead, did you know that Kayla here was an Air Force pilot and firefighter?"

"Whoa, really?" She turned to look at him in the backseat. 

"Yeah. And I saved plenty of Rangers in my two tours."

He laughed. "You give us no credit. What did you fly?"

"A Raptor."

"I have always wanted to fly in a Raptor. What was it like?"

"It's the best feeling in the world. It is very freeing even when your commander is barking orders into your headset." She pulled her phone from her pocket and showed him the picture of her on the ladder outside the powerful jet. 

"You are full to secrets. That is very impressive, Kayla." 

She smiled at him. "I didn't know you were so interested in flying." She turned back to face the front and started typing on her phone furiously. Just as she hit the send button, they pulled up to one of the last houses on the list. "Let's see if this guy is any help."

When they got out of the car, they heard a gunshot. "This is Detective Dawson, we have shots fired at..." The shooter started to fire out of an upper floor window. They all hit the ground and tucked themselves up against the house the best they could. As soon as the shooter stopped, Kayla was up the front steps and kicking down the door. Antonio gave the address to dispatch and he followed her with Halstead behind him. There was bloody teenage girl crawling down the stairs but Kayla ignored her and went after a fleeing figure. 

The runner didn't make it over the back fence in time and Kayla threw him on the ground, slamming her knee into his shoulder. She picked his head up by his hair but dropped it when she saw it wasn't Spencer. She cuffed him and literally dragged him to the car. Halstead watched and laughed when he saw her. Antonio left the girl they found on the stairs before joining his team member at the window. 

Jay let out a short whistle. "I want to know what kind of steroids that girl is on."

"She can only weigh 90 pounds. How can she drag a full grown man?"

"Who knows." The ambo arrived and they started to the girl as Antonio left Roman and Burgess to get her statement. 

Voight had arrived with Lindsay and sent her inside with Kayla to search the house while Voight questioned the kid in the backseat of the patrol car. "Why did you run?"

"I heard cops were in the neighbor hood and I freaked."

"Why did you fire your gun?"

Lindsay and Kayla walked out of his house and threw two duffel bags on the ground. "Because he has a mind blowing amount of drugs. I have never seen such a wide variety. Weed, cocaine, heroin, LSD, Ecstasy, pain killers. This is just death in a bag."

Voight was impressed. "Good bust you three."

Kayla shrugged. "Do you have any leads on Spencer?"

"You came looking for Spencer Johnson?" 

Voight grabbed the kid's face. "Tell us every thing you know about him right now."

"He left like 15 minutes before you showed up. He was telling me that Mike was going to give him up so he would find a way to get him back."

Kayla shook her head. "Awesome. So close!" She threw her hands up in defeat. "He just keeps slipping out of my hands."

Voight shook his head. "Let's get back. We need to get more info on Mike's family."

Kayla was sitting in the chair next to Antonio's desk, her feet on it as Antonio was pulling up files on Mike and all of his family's business. Antonio's elbow hit Kayla's boot and he looked over at her. Her head was leaned back and she was blankly staring at the ceiling. "What is it?"

"Nothing." She sat up suddenly. "Sometimes in my office at home, I tape the suspect's picture on the ceiling and just stare at it. It really seems to help."

He looked at her like she was crazy. "Have you had too much coffee today?"

"No. I know, it's crazy. But it helps me for whatever reason. Don't judge me."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Now just listen. Mike's family owns two paper factories, three car dealerships, and a glass factory."

She nodded. "If he's going after any of them, it's the glass factory."

"But wouldn't that be the hardest to burn down?"

"That's the point. He burned down a brick storage room in the brick factory right outside Pittsboro."

"He melted brick?"

"Brick melts at 2,000 degrees, yes, he melted brick. When he burns things to the ground, he burns things to the ground."

"Okay, so we should probably head over to the glass factory to see if we can get surveillence set up nearby."

"Tell your sister and her station to be careful if any of those buildings burn just in case he breaks pattern."

"Got it." Antonio waved Voight over. "We are going to check out the Richards glass factory. We think that's his next target."

"Be careful. We'll join you in about ten minutes."

He nodded and they loaded their weapons. They got to factory but just waited outside of it. "I hope we can get him this time."

"I think you are already making him nervous. I'm sure he'll slip up any time now." She nodded and he put an arm around her shoulder and they started walking inside. "He will."

"Yeah. I know. It's just frustrating." They walked inside and showed their badges to the plant manager. 

"What is this about, officers?"

Antonio looked around. "We have reason to believe that someone will try to burn the building down and we need to look around."

"Okay, no problem. Should we evacuate the employees?"

Kayla shrugged. "Yeah. I'm sure they don't want to be here on a Saturday anyways." 

"Luckily only about 8 are here and they all work in the main office so they'll be out in a few minutes." He turned and talked to the security guard. The two detectives started to wander around. They walked upstairs and looked out over the plant floor. There was no one to be found.

As they were heading back into the offices, something on the factory floor blew up. They ran out to see flames jumping up at them. They scrambled back and shut the fire doors. They ran as fast as they could to the other side of the second floor. The stairs were already engulfed in flames leaving them no exit. "We need to shut as many fire doors as we can." They ran through, hitting releases until they were trapped in a big, spacious office. "Okay, just keep calm."

Antonio was looking around the room. "Can the fire department even put this fire out?"

"It can be put out like any other fire but the tricky part is that we have to stay here. They can't come get us." She grabbed jackets scattered in the closet of the office and stuffed them under the door. "That should help keep smoke out for a little while."

"Those vents over there." He grabbed a chair and looked through. "They go to the outside."

"We need to get the covers off. Let's keep the fresh air coming in."

He used the screwdriver she handed him to pry them off. "These vents are small. They won't be able to vent out the smoke."

"We'll be fine. I've survived worse so you can too." They both slid down the wall and sat under the two small vents. "Main thing to do is not panic and to keep our breathing as normal as possible."

Antonio pulled his cellphone out and called Voight, putting him on speaker. "Sergeant, we're trapped. Spencer caught the factory on fire."

"We know, we are outside. Is there any way for you to get out?"

"We are trapped on the second floor in an office in the north corner."

"The fire department is two minutes out. You will just have wait out the fire."

"We know. We have the bottom of the door sealed off and two exterior vents open."

"Good. You will get through this."

Kayla finally said something. "I just hope the firefighters get to the northern end of the building before the fire."

Kayla was up and wandering the office after the first 10 minutes of waiting. The room was heavy with smoke. "Kayla, sit down." Antonio was getting groggy.

"Whoa, buddy, wake up." She kneeled in front of him and shook him by his shoulders. "Let's not forget about Diego and Eva, okay? They need their dad so wake up." She just shook him harder. He pushed her off of him and stood up, leaning on the desk. When he dropped to the ground, she cursed. She pulled her phone from her pocket. "Voight." She stopped to cough on all of the smoke. "We are starting to run out of air. The smoke is overpowering. Antonio is unconscious. Where are the firefighters?"

"They are barely containing the south end. They tried to send people in but the east and the west are burning."

"Okay." She heard her voice getting lighter. Her head was spinning. "Yeah. I don't feel well either. I won't..." She dropped her phone and fell to her side, staring at Antonio, who was passed out on his stomach. 

She was woken up when the ceiling started falling on her. She panicked and got up, ignoring the spinning of the room. She grabbed Antonio and pulled him to the corner of the room. She covered him with her own body as more flaming stuff fell from the ceiling. "Help! Help us!" She tried waking Antonio up again. "Antonio! Come on!" She watched as the door started burning. She just turned away and held Antonio's hand. That's when she heard shouting and the unmistakable sizzling sound of water cooling the fire. "Help! We are trapped in here!" The door was kicked down and Gabby and Casey came in the room. "It's in the ceilings. If the path is clear, I can take Antonio."

Casey nodded and helped her stand him up. She picked him up into a fireman's carry and was pointed to the east exit. She made her way carefully down the stairs and out to the paramedics. Mills took Antonio from her while Sylvie forced her to sit down and accept her help. "How long were you trapped in there?"

Kayla shrugged and took the mask off. "I don't know. Like 15 minutes." Sylvie made her put the mask back on before she treated her minor burns. After a few minutes, Antonio was sitting up on his stretcher. 

"Glad to see you alive, partner."

Antonio didn't hesitate to smile at Kayla. "We still have a case to solve. We can't just give up on it just because we ate some smoke." 

Gabby come out of the building but calmed down when her brother had his fight back. He kept trying to stand up, struggling against Mills. "Oh, thank God you are okay." 

Casey joined Gabby but focused on Kayla. "That was a perfectly executed fireman's carry."

"I know. I was a firefighter for 6 years and in the military for a while."

"Well good thing you have that training."

"Yeah. I guess. Is the fire almost out?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The ceiling fire was contained to the north end. It's almost out."

Kayla smiled. "Well that's good." 

She watched Antonio get loaded into the ambulance. "Kayla! Get in here! We need to talk." She climbed into the ambulance and shrugged at the puzzled Mills.


	4. Chapter 4

Antonio pulled his notes from his pocket. "A witness saw Spencer leaving a few minutes before the fire started, at least the witness that Voight interviewed. The other witnesses were too shaken up to talk."

Kayla crossed her arms. "So my guess was right."

"Yeah but now he's probably going to hide out. We have warrants to search the houses of a few more people and then we can work from that information."

"Come on, Detective. Stop talking." Mills put the oxygen mask over Antonio's face again and Kayla laughed as he threw an annoyed glare at the paramedic. "Don't hate on me. I'm just trying to do my job."

Kayla patted Antonio's leg. "He'll be okay, right?"

Peter nodded. "He should be fine. How about your burns?"

She shrugged but held her arm out. "It still hurts but it's not the first or last time I'll be burned."

Mills nodded. "I noticed your scarring earlier. What happened?"

"Long story short, I was in the military, a flame thrower was involved, and it ended in a very bad day for the other guy." 

Mills laughed and covered her burns. "We'll be at the hospital in a few minutes. Those are some pretty bad burns."

"Yeah, I think I might have been burned on my back too. I'm just now starting to feel it." 

She turned around and Mills sighed. "How did this happen?"

"I was trying to keep the debris from hitting Antonio."

Antonio shook his head and pulled the mask off his face. "Hero."

"I know. I try my hardest."

They were cleared for work but Voight made them take the night off. Antonio dropped her off at her hotel but as he was about to leave she called out his name softly.

"What's up?"

"I might sound like an idiot but I usually watch a movie on Friday nights and since I don't know too many people here, would you want to watch one with me?"

He smiled and nodded at her innocent look. "Yeah, sure. What movie?"

She held up the second Avengers movie. "I'm a sucker for superheroes."

It was near the end and they were watching it comfortably from her bed. She was sitting up near the middle while he was leaned up against the headboard. "Man, that robot did not like him."

"Nah. He's fine. He just needs... A miracle." She was frowning at the screen. 

"He's not fine."

She crossed her arms. "A girl can dream, okay Antonio?"

He laughed at her face. "Yeah. Right." 

After the end credit scene, she showed Antonio a response from her old Air Force buddy she had messaged while they were on their manhunt. "I was thinking that you and me could convince Halstead to go in a few days."

"I think that's a great idea." 

The next morning, they got straight to work. They broke into their teams and started searching out some of their leads. The final house they were about to search got their hearts racing. The person that answered the door was a little girl who had been crying. 

Kayla peered inside the door with her hand on her gun. "Hey sweetie. Where are your parents?"

"They left for a party two hours ago."

"Are you here alone?"

"My brother is here but his friend is scaring me."

Kayla looked back at her partners. "Okay. I need you to stay quiet and stay out here with this nice police officer. We'll go stop your brother's scary friend." Halstead picked up the girl who couldn't have been more than 4 years old and took her to the other side of their car. 

Antonio and Kayla cautiously entered the house. They heard talking above them and proceeded up the stairs, guns drawn. She kicked down the door with the voices behind it. It was Spencer and a friend, both of them playing with knives. 

"Get down on the ground!" They did as Antonio said and got on their knees. Kayla walked toward Spencer but let her guard down. Spencer kicked her legs out from underneath her. Spencer's friend leapt onto Antonio. 

Kayla dropped her gun when her head hit the hardwood floor. Spencer pulled his knife and tried to stab her with it. She managed to grab his wrist and she struggled with the blade inches from her face. She managed to get it aimed toward the floor and she let go. He stabbed into the floor but she sat up and head butted him. He fell backwards and tried to punch her in the face as soon as he regained some of his footing. She dodged it and grabbed his arm, throwing him against the wall. She didn't hesitate to snap the bones in his forearm. As he cried out in pain, she grabbed hold of his hair. "I've got you now, you murderer." She slammed his head into the wall repeatedly until he was bleeding.

Kayla pulled him off the wall and he fell to his knees. She kicked him in the back and he hit the floor. She cuffed him before looking up at Antonio. He was holding the other kid down but he gave Kayla a proud nod. He grabbed his phone and called dispatch. "It's Detective Dawson. Be advised we have Spencer Johnson in custody."

In a matter of minutes, the rest of the Intellegince unit was arriving, storming the house with their rifles and handguns. They found the kicked in door and saw Kayla sitting in a chair with her feet on Spencer's back. "Hey guys. What took you so long?" She let Ruzek and Olinsky walk Spencer and his friend down the stairs. 

"Who beat the crap out of him?" Voight looked between the two detectives. 

Kayla raised her hand. "That would be me. I might have broken his arm so he might need to go to the hospital before anything else."

"Yeah, I noticed the blood." He nodded at her with a look of amusement on his face. "You are damn good. If you ever need a job or a change of scenery, you have yourself a job in the Intelligence unit."

"I'll keep that in mind Sergeant." She ran down the stairs with a huge smile plastered on her face with Antonio right behind her. They walked outside in time to see the two people being put in the back of a police transport van. Kayla took the kid from Halstead and noticed she was calm now. "You got the bad guy!"

Kayla nodded. "Yes, we finally did. What's your name sweetie?"

"My name is Rachel. Why was he bleeding?"

Kayla bit her lip and looked at Lindsay who just laughed. "Well Rachel, your new friend here, Detective Ray, just so happens to be a super hero and it's her job to protect people like you. But the bad guys tend to put up a fight. She only did it to protect herself."

"Oh. Then that's okay." Rachel's parents ran down the sidewalk and Lindsay explained the situation to them as they held onto their daughter. 

"You really beat him up good." Kayla jumped when Antonio snuck up behind her. 

"I'm just lucky it was normal dry wall I bashed his face in. I wouldn't have stopped if it was brick."

"What do you think of the job Voight offered?"

Kayla bit her lip. "I don't know. It's actually very tempting. I would say yes if I were single and my family didn't live five minutes from my house but I think I'd miss being so close to them."

"Then I guess I'll just have to visit you."

"I welcome it."

When they returned to their unit, Sergeant Platt, Officers Burgess and Roman, and Gabby Dawson were waiting for them. "Good job Kayla!" Gabby started clapping and everyone joined in. Kayla just shook her head and laughed. 

"Thanks guys. I appreciate it." Kayla sat next to Antonio's desk. 

Gabby stood in front of her, beaming. "On behalf of the Chicago Fire Department, thank you for finally taking that guy out. Who knows how many people you have saved."

"Well thank you for saving the two of us from that fire. I honestly thought we were going to die in there." 

Antonio put an arm around his sister and kissed her on the side of her head. "No way. My sister would never have let that happen."

Everyone got back to work except for Antonio and Kayla who just sat behind his desk and discussed their victory. She showed Antonio something on her phone then the two of them approached Halstead. "Jay."

Jay started to pile up his case documents. "What's up you two?"

"Would you perhaps be interested in taking a day trip tomorrow?"

"Why?" He looked very suspicious of the two as they kept glancing at each other. 

"I know the perfect way to celebrate since it was our team that brought Spencer down, you know, technically."

"I'm not sure I trust you. But fine."

Antonio raised an eyebrow then looked at Kayla. "That was a lot easier than I thought it would be."

"Let's just be glad he said yes. Now let's get some coffee. I need a caffeine boost." The two friends walked into the break room and sat down as they kept talking. 

"Okay, what?" Jay looked over at Olinsky. "Do you know what that was about?"

Olinsky kept typing. "All I know is that is one of the best partnerships I've ever seen."

"I know, too good. And too close. Isn't she married?"

Olinsky shrugged. "I don't know. I think so. But I think they're just friends."

Halstead sighed and turned back to his work. "I just want to know where we are going tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

Halstead had just put his clothes on when he heard pounding at his door. 

Kayla was already wide awake and full of energy. "Good morning!"

"Since I don't know where we are going, is this appropriate to wear?" He was wearing a normal shirt and jeans. 

Kayla shrugged. "Yeah. Now come on! I'm driving!" She started down the hallway and Antonio shook his head. 

"Will you need my GPS?"

"What a stupid question. Of course I will. I don't know my way around." The men followed her as she stood pressing the open button for the elevator doors. "I am so ready!"

Antonio shrugged. "I'm pretty excited too. It'll be a once in a life time experience."

"What is it?" Jay looked between the two. 

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Halstead just gave him a confused look. Antonio grinned. "We think you'll like it. A lot."

Two hours later, Kayla was singing along with the radio as she pulled down a side road and Halstead sat up in his seat. "Grissom Air Force Reserve Base? This is why we're in Indiana?"

"Yeah, I thought it would be fun to show you around." They pulled up to the gate. "Hey, Master Sergeant Kayla Ray to see Colonel Willows." She showed him her military issued ID. 

"Who else is in the car?"

"Detectives Jay Halstead and Antonio Dawson. Willows said he cleared them to go wherever I do." The gate opened and she pulled forward into the hangar area. Kayla put her shades on as they walked toward the main building. "So follow me." She took them into a room where she handed them jumpsuits and helmets. She fitted the helmets and smiled. She pulled on a pilot's jumpsuit. 

"What are we going to fly in?" Halstead pulled at his sleeves. 

"I think you'll like it, Halstead." Right after they exited the building, a man stepped in their path. "Colonel." Kayla saluted him and he gave her a salute back. 

"If it isn't my best Master Sergeant." He hugged her before looking at the two detectives. 

"These are my friends, Jay Halstead and Antonio Dawson."

He looked them over before shaking their hands. "These are the best weapon officers you could find?" She nodded. "Not bad. You have clearance to fly pretty freely, it's a slow day. I recommend flying over Mississiewa Lake. Folks enjoy seeing the pride and joy of the country."

"Of course, sir." They followed him to where a giant jet was slowly rolling off to the side of the runway. "So Jay, you said you wanted to go up in a F-22 Raptor but since those are 1 seaters and you aren't an Air Force pilot, I got the next best thing. This F-15E Strike Eagle should suffice."

His jaw dropped at the sight of the powerful jet. "Are you serious?"

"You're wearing a jumpsuit, right?" He nodded slowly as the man that piloted the F-15 got out and ran to the Colonel to talk. Kayla took them closer. "Had her flown in from my homestead, the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, a day ago."

Antonio elbowed Halstead who was still staring in wonder. "Worth the trip?"

He nodded slowly. "Oh yeah. This is one hell of a celebration."

"You guys deserve it for helping me out so much. Without your help, Spencer Johnson would still be burning buildings down. Now come on. This thing wants to fly." Halstead walked over to the jet and Kayla climbed up the ladder, standing with her hand outstretched to Jay. He took it and she helped him into his seat. She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of him. She got in the pilot's seat and closed the canopy. They put on their oxygen supply, just to follow Willows' requirements for a civilian to fly. After they were in position at the end of the runway, she started talking into her headset. "Air control tower, this is Strike Eagle 1-4-2. Am I clear for take off?"

"You are clear Strike Eagle 1-4-2. Proceed to airborne." 

"Airman Basic Halstead, you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm ready to go."

Kayla laughed and she started rolling forward, the backburners flaming. When they made it into the sky, Halstead looked around.

"Strike Eagle 1-4-2 to the air control tower, I am clear from the runway. This is routine flight hours."

"Clear Strike Eagle 1-4-2."

Jay looked at the controls around him. "How fast can this thing go?"

"25 shy of 1,900 miles per hour."

"This is awesome!"

"Glad you are enjoying yourself. I figured you would like this. And according to Antonio, your unit doesn't get a lot of down time."

"Yeah, we don't. But this makes up for all of it." They started flying over a big body of water. 

"That's Mississinewa Lake. Some travel miles to boat out there for a glimpse at one of these bad boys although they don't usually fly out of Grissom. It's a reserve base so there isn't too much activity." She made the plane do a hard left turn and it flipped vertically. 

Jay sighed. "I was always jealous of you pilots. You were so high up, you seemed untouchable."

"Say that to my scars. We have to hit the ground at some point. I was boots down for three weeks at one point."

"That long?"

"Not every one in the Air Force is a pilot. Most of our recruits are ground troops."

"I guess I never thought about it."

"Most people don't. They just say, look, a fast jet with guns. Yay!" 

"But that's not all you do."

"Right. I was a firefighter as well. If someone blew up our base or caught a forest on fire, we were sent in with our helicopters to put it out."

"You fly helicopters too?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I prefer my jets. Wanna roll?"

"What? Is that safe?"

"You bet it is. Get ready!" She eased the jet into a gentle roll. Then she flew it straight up and looped it upside down, doing a backflip. 

"Oh, that was awesome. Can we do that again, please?" 

"Why not?" 

"Fighting Falcon 2-6-8 reaching out to Strike Eagle 1-4-2." Kayla glanced at her radar. There was a fast approaching plane coming up on her right flank. 

"Fighting Falcon 2-6-8, I see you." She knocked on the window to get Jay's attention. "Look to your right."

"Strike Eagle 1-4-2, do you have someone on board?"

"Fighting Falcon 2-6-8, is that you Senior Master Sergeant Summers?"

The jet, an F-16 C Fighting Falcon, rolled underneath them. "Yeah! Lockwood couldn't fly up here alone!"

"You son of bitch!" She laughed as the jet peeled away.

"Friend of yours?" Jay asked from the back. 

"Yeah. And he's a pain in the ass."

After being in the air for 20 more minutes, Kayla landed it on the runway. Antonio was standing next to the F-16 and talking to the pilot. Kayla pulled the jet over to the side and opened the canopy. 

"Kayyyla Ray every one! Almost as good of a pilot as me." The pilot stared at her and made a point of being loud. 

"In your dreams, Summers. I just had a passenger on board. Otherwise, I would've smoked you."

"Not a chance!" 

Kayla shook her head and helped Halstead unattach himself from the jet and down the ladder. She climbed down afterwards.

"This F-15 can go above your F-16's Mach 2." She punched Summers playfully on the arm. "It's good to see you."

"Yeah, you too. Oh, you missed it, I climbed Mount Fuji while I was deployed for training in Japan."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm so impressed." She turned to her two friends. "Martin Summers, this is Antonio Dawson and Jay Halstead. Jay said he wanted to fly in a Raptor so I figured the F-15 was the closest I could get."

"Well what about an F-16 B? There is one at Seymour."

"Do you remember that you broke it in one of your stunts?

"Me? Never." Summers finally looked at Halstead. "I poke fun but the Eagle is a dangerous and powerful jet."

"I saw most of these jets in action overseas."

"Let me guess, Navy?"

"Army Rangers. 75th Regiment."

"Ah. You know, I think I covered you a while back." The two men were engaged in their conversation so Kayla shook her head and looked at Antonio. 

"Your turn. The Eagle is ready."

"Let's not keep it waiting."

Ten minutes later Antonio was in the sky with Kayla and they were over the lake. "Liking it?"

"This is the coolest thing I've ever done, easily. I will have to send a picture to my kids."

"I wonder if the rest of your unit will be jealous when they find out."

"Oh yeah. I've been wondering, what other planes have you flown?"

"F-15, F-16, F-22, SR-71, even though they aren't in use anymore, and I tested an F-35 once."

"Did you have to have training for all of those?"

"Technically, I can only fly Raptors and Eagles but I was taught by some fellow airmen how to fly the others."

"And your commanders were okay with that?"

"Eh, not so much. I never got in serious trouble but I did get yelled at quite a bit. It would have been a totally different situation if I were a reckless pilot. They must not have cared too much because they asked me to fly the F-35."

"So this is what you did everyday?"

"Yeah. It was pretty exciting stuff. I was only engaged by enemy forces about 15 times. People like Summers were constantly being chased out of the sky."

"Where were you guys deployed?"

"I was in Syria for like 2 months then I was sent, along with 5 other Raptors, to Afghanistan."

Antonio shifted in his seat. "What was it like flying through a place at war?"

"Terrifying. I was always afraid I would look to my left and my friend would be shot down right in front of my eyes."

"That's got to be a lot of weight to carry." 

She looped the jet. "But this part was always fun!"

Antonio took a moment to look around his seat. He noticed all the different screens and controls. "Hey, what kind of soldier sits back here?"

"A weapons officer. While I focus on flying, they focus on blowing up the enemy."

"The weapons aren't on, are they? Cause now I'm scared to move."

"Nope, they are disabled and they were repairing one of the missile bays so there probably aren't any weapons loaded."

"Well that's comforting."

She laughed. "Let's go a little faster just so you can get a feel for what this thing can do." She demonstrated the capabilities of the F-15. It took tight turns and dipped before shooting back upwards. 

Once they landed, they both took their helmets off and all three of them took a picture in front of the jet on Kayla's phone. 

They stopped by a local diner that Willows swore by and were happily eating their food. "So when do you go back?"

She looked up at Halstead. "I leave tomorrow morning, pretty early."

"It's not a long flight, is it?"

"It's just like 2 hours then an hour drive home. It's not bad."

Halstead nodded and ate his fries silently. Antonio decided to speak up. "It was great having you here. You definitely added excitement to our unit and you made friends for life. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks guys. Same goes for you but I feel like the Chicago Police Department has you guys well covered."

"I'm sure we could find an excuse to get our favorite red head to Chicago." 

She laughed at Antonio. "Oh yeah. That would be awesome."

Halstead looked at his phone. "Spencer was just denied bail in Cook County. What do you think he'll get in North Carolina?"

Kayla shrugged. "I don't care. Between Chicago and Pittsboro, he won't see the light of day, no matter how much money his family tries to pay."

Antonio stole one of her fries then had a thought. "Do you need a ride to the airport tomorrow?"

"That would greatly appreciated but not necessary."

"Please. It's no trouble."

It was 6 am when Antonio pulled up in front of Kayla's hotel. She was standing by the front door wearing a hoodie. He threw her bags in the trunk then got in the car. Kayla was already in the passenger seat, her hood pulled over her eyes. She was sitting with her feet up on the dashboard and her arms crossed. 

"Wow. You are not a morning person."

"Yeah and I couldn't figure out how to use the stupid coffee machine. I know I'm spoiled but I have a K-cup thing at home and at my precinct."

"I promise we can get you coffee at the airport."

She made a pouty face. "I know but I want it now." 

"It's a 45 minute drive. Just go back to sleep. I'll wake you up."

"Great." She fell asleep in minutes with her head leaned against the window. 

He had parked the car and shook her awake. "Come on. Let's get you some coffee." He got her luggage and waited next to a table while she ordered her coffee. 

Once she had her steaming drink in her hand, she had regained her fun and spunky persona. "I am Kayla Ray once again."

After she checked her luggage in and they passed through security, they were sitting in the uncomfortable airport chairs together. Kayla leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. 

"I'm gonna miss you a lot."

"I'm gonna miss you too Antonio. I think I'm going to talk to Grant about moving up here."

"Really? You would move this far from your family?"

"Yeah. And Grant is not doing as much as he wants at his little department. He would probably like the challenge of moving to a big city."

"I'm really glad to hear you say you are considering it."

Her flight was called out and she sat up, looking at the terminal. "Well I've got to go." They both stood up and Antonio pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back and laughed. "You act like you're never going to see me again."

"I know. But it could be while before I do." Kayla pulled away and just gave him a sad smile. 

"I will see you soon." 

Two weeks later, Antonio checked his mail and found a small package. It was from Kayla. He opened it, curious as to what she had to send him. It was a picture frame with a slot for two pictures. One was of him sitting in the F-15 and the other was her, Halstead and himself standing in front of it. 

There was small note attached to the back. "Antonio, show this to Diego and Eva and prove to them that you flew across the sky in a warbird. Love Kayla."

He shook his head and took it out to his car. He placed it on his desk once he got to work and sat back, looking at it. Halstead looked up from his work. "You got one from her too?"

"Yeah. Now I'm planning on going to North Carolina in a few months."

"You two are going tonight." Voight looked at the two detectives. 

"Why? What's wrong?" Antonio stood up slowly. 

"The kid that we got with Spencer made bail and he ran to North Carolina. He just shot up a fire station."


	6. Down South

Antonio walked outside with his duffel bag, Halstead struggling to keep up. A man was standing in the pick up lane with a sign saying Chicago Police Department. They approached him and held out their badges. He helped them put their stuff in the trunk and they got on the road within minutes. 

"I'm Detective James Landon."

"Detective Antonio Dawson and this is Detective Jay Halstead. Can you tell us the situation?"

"An armed gunmen who is identified as Grey Lindman from Chicago stormed into North Chatham Volunteer Fire Department Station 1 with an unknown gun that is presumably an illegally obtained assault rifle. Two firefighters were injured. One is in serious condition but the other one is fine, the bullet just grazed her luckily."

Antonio got to thinking. "The female firefighter, is her name Justice Stevenson?"

"Yeah. How did you know that?"

Antonio looked forward. "Kayla told me she had a sister in the fire department. How about the critical guy? What's his name?"

"Captain Casey Myers. A bullet got a lung and another got a major artery in his left leg."

"When did this happen?"

"Early this morning as they were changing shifts."

The rest of the drive was pretty quiet. The two big city guys were looking at the scenery although it was one of the farthest things from their minds. They drove past the fire station which was still roped off with police tape. They got to the police station and were taken to the Detective unit. Every one was running around gathering files, and by everyone, they meant the three detectives and two patrolmen that were in the precinct. They had yet to see Kayla's vibrant hair. Antonio stopped one of the patrolmen before he walked out of the door. "Where is Detective Ray's office?" 

The uniformed officer pointed to the door on the opposite side of the little common area. "My cousin's in there. I gotta go." 

He walked off and Halstead looked at Antonio. "Cousin? They work together?"

"That's the reason she looked into a police career." Antonio knocked on the door and a few seconds later the door was thrown open by Kayla. She was not like the Kayla they knew. Her face looked emotionless and she was walking briskly with files in her hands. They followed her as she started dumping files on the tables and handing them to other officers. "Kayla!"

She finally stopped and turned to them. "Guys. Hey. Sorry. I am just super busy."

"Yeah, we can tell. How is your sister?"

"Fine." She started walking away but turned back around. "Actually I don't know. I know she's fine physically but... I don't know. I'm thankful that neither her nor Grant were seriously injured."

"Grant was there?"

"Yeah, they were switching shifts when it happened. Grant was there for the new shift." She checked her watch. "Some patrolman are taking their statements. You should go sit in. I'll be back soon." She pointed them in the direction of the break room. Inside they saw Justice sitting at the table with her arm wrapped up. She was leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. Grant was sitting next to her, a frown on his face. 

The two firefighters stared at the detectives as they sat down in front of them. "Hey guys. I'm Detective Antonio Dawson."

"I'm Jay Halstead. We are here from the Chicago Police Department's Intelligence Unit."

Grant gave them an unfriendly look. "So it was your fault this guy got out. He was an accessory to murder and arson. Why was he out on bail?!"

"Grant!" Justice slapped his shoulder with her hand. "Stop it. It's not their fault. They can't control what these people do."

He sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault."

Antonio nodded. "It's fine. We know you are under a lot of stress and that you've had a very trying day."

The patrolman sitting at the table got up. "I haven't started getting their statements. Have fun." He left, leaving the detectives thoroughly confused. 

Halstead shook his head. "What's his problem?"

Justice shrugged and gave them a nervous smile. "Kayla may or may not have been the reason he didn't make detective, not that he really deserves that title."

Antonio sat down across the two of them. He pulled his phone out and showed them a picture of Grey. "This is the guy?"

She tensed. "Yeah. I already IDed him."

"We just wanted our own confirmation. Have you guys ever seen him before?"

"No, never." Grant shook his head. "The guy just got here from Chicago. Why would we have ever seen him before?"

Justice cleared her throat and slowly raised her hand. "Okay, so Cap said he saw someone outside our station. I thought, whatever, it's just a Carrboro hippie who found his way to Fearrington Village."

"Did he describe the guy?"

She closed her eyes. "Uh, a white guy wearing a green hoodie with dark hair. We get a lot of freaks out here so myself as well as the others thought it was no big deal." 

Antonio nodded. "We better go see what else we can do. We're sorry about all of this guys. If you can think of anything else, you know where we'll be."

They walked back into the common room. Kayla linked her arm into Antonio's and Jay's and walked with them into her office. She kicked the door shut and sat down, putting her feet up on her desk. "So things have gone to Hell. We can only assume his motive has something to do with me."

Halstead nodded. "Right, why else would he travel all the way out here to the middle of no where?"

She gave him an unimpressed look. "Do you not like my town?" Halstead crossed his arms and stammered over his words. 

Kayla laughed at him and he shook his head. "Oh, you little-"

"I know, I deserve an Oscar." She handed them a folder. 

Halstead grabbed and opened it. "Are these blank warrants?"

"There are a total of 30, all of them with a judge's signature. We have free reign and we can claim it was legal. The first one will be for Spencer Johnson's house."

"Spencer Johnson's house?"

"This Grey character could've gone and taken safe haven there since the two were friends. Now, as for his weapons, ballistics has not gotten back yet but just from seeing the projectile, I can only think of an M-4, which is a common weapon on the ground in Afghanistan so I recognized the bullet. We don't have too much illegal weaponry activity here so I have to assume that he bought it in Chicago."

"I don't doubt it. Are you the lead detective on this case?"

"Yes. Seeing as I am the fire department liaison and the only major crime detective."

"Is there anything you are not good at?"

She took a second to think. "Uh, surfing and chess."

Antonio sighed. "Well, I guess we should get to Spencer's house before Grey has a chance to run."

Kayla led them to the riot gear room. There wasn't much besides old, wood plated rifles and a few riot shields. She did have brand new bullet proof vests, probably the only thing in the room that was made after the year 1995. They geared themselves up and went outside to her blacked out Interceptor. She drove them through the back country roads, keeping her eye out for any wildlife that felt like taking a leap across the road.

"When you just take a second to look, this place is really beautiful." Halstead watched as the woods turned into gentle rolling hills with old wooden fences and cows grazing. 

"I know it is. One of the reasons I hesitate when thinking about taking Voight's offer." She checked road names. "Okay, this is it. If he isn't here, I will be extremely surpised." Kayla pulled down the driveway and through the open gates to the house. 

"Holy smokes. This is insane."

She laughed. "What buys you a nice, free standing house in Chicago gets you a mansion here." It was a giant brick mansion with big marble columns in the front. Kayla parked her car and marched right up to the front door. When an older man opened the door, she literally shoved the warrant in his face before pushing past him into the house. She kept her gun drawn. "Search everywhere! I'm taking the top floor." She ran up the marble staircase and left the other two to find their way around the downstairs. They cleared the place and waited for Kayla to come back downstairs. They kept their eyes glued to the Johnson's.

Mr. Johnson was on his phone with their lawyer so Mrs. Johnson decided to speak up. "I have never seen you two. Are you new to department?"

Antonio just glared at them. "Sorry, we don't talk to people who let their son murder." Halstead narrowed his eyes as he spoke. 

Mrs.Johnson acted offended. "Well, what terrible accusations."

Kayla finally came back down the stairs. She threw a green hoodie at Mr.Johnson. "So are you going to tell me who that belongs to?"

He shrugged and dropped it on the ground. "I don't know. It must be one of Spencer's."

"Except that jacket is three sizes too small for Spencer. Where is Grey?"

The couple crossed their arms. "Our lawyer will be here soon."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's go check the stable." They nodded and followed her out back. As they got to the barn, someone threw the stable door open. Kayla was hit and fell to the ground but recovered quickly. The other two were hot on his trail but he started going through the woods. By the time Kayla caught up, they where standing in one spot, trying to find him. "What happened? How did you lose him?"

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. We just had him in our sights, he was right here."

She sighed and looked up. There were storm clouds above their heads. "Come on city boys, it's about to rain. I wanna split before the lawyer gets here. And Grey will resurface. I have a feeling his revenge is just getting started."


	7. Down South

It had been 12 hours since they lost Grey and they were searching tirelessly. Kayla was yawning at her desk. "Well, I am beat. I am going home to get some sleep."

Antonio stopped her from getting up. "Where is the closest hotel? We don't have a place to stay yet. No one from the department had time to get that far. We are lucky we even got the plane tickets."

"The closest hotel is way too expensive and the next closest one is in Chapel Hill. Come stay with me. Our house is plenty big."

Antonio shook his head. "We don't want to invade your personal space."

"Oh, please. The closest hotel is 25 minutes away. Just come on." They walked out to her personal Chevy Impala and she took them to her house, less than ten minutes away. It was a straight shot down two roads and then a turn down a dirt road. They finally got to the white ranch house with a green metal roof. A Pit Bull and German Shepherd came bounding down the steps, barking loudly. Kayla parked in the dead spot of grass right in front of an old barn. They got out and the two detectives just felt calm. They were out in the quiet countryside, the case far from their minds. They followed Kayla up the porch steps. She opened the unlocked door and stepped inside. The inside was sunny with warm colors and comfortable and rustic furniture. "If you guys will follow me, I will give you the tour." She showed them their rooms which were both a good size even with the queen sized bed in the middle of the room. They dropped their bags on the floor and she showed them her room, the hall bath, the kitchen, the dining room, and finally the living room. 

"This place is nice. You don't see a whole lot of this in Chicago. Everyone likes things modern."

"I can't stand the cold and white design. It's just not friendly. But anyways, come on. Take these." She handed car keys to Antonio and took them out to the barn. She pulled the heavy doors open to show an old car and a newer Ford Mustang. "So the Mustang is for you guys to use while you are here and don't worry, it has a GPS built in."

"Where would we go without you?"

"We will be stretched all throughout this part of the county, which means a lot of square milage. You two will at some point be sent to investigate a lead while I'm at the station trying to keep everything together."

"Whose car is that?" Halstead ran a hand over the pristine hood of the classic car.

"This is my grandfather's '75 Mustang. When he left it to me in his will, it was a mess. We had to tow it over here. But it wasn't anything a little hard work couldn't fix. I spent 18 months working on it. Now, it works as well as it did the day it was built."

"That's awesome."

"Whenever we catch a free second, we can take a ride around downtown." They nodded right as an F-350 Super Duty parked next to Kayla's car. Grant got out and went to the passenger side, pulling the three boxes of pizza off the floor board. 

"Sorry cops, the bakery was closed so I couldn't get you donuts. Will pizza suffice?" 

They followed him inside and they gathered around the dining table. "You went all the way to Franklin Street to get pizza?"

He nodded. "I just went for a drive but figured you guys were hungry."

"Hungry and exhausted." She handed the plates of pizza to everyone. She carefully watched Jay and Antonio as they tried the pizza. 

Antonio was the first person to say something. "Oh my God, this pizza is amazing. I think this is better than Chicago pizza."

"It's this local family owned pizzeria. Whenever you go in the door, one of them shouts 'hey buddy' and it is my favorite thing ever. They are the stereotypical Italians."

Antonio looked around the table. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this relaxed and happy to just be surrounded by good friends like this. 

The next morning when Jay and Antonio woke up, they showered and got dressed before going downstairs. Grant was putting food on the table. "Hey guys. Kayla already ran to the precinct but she said I wasn't allowed to let you leave without eating a good breakfast. So help yourselves." They sat down to plates full of food. There was bacon, scrambled eggs, toast with homemade jelly, and classic southern grits. There were pitchers of orange juice and two cups of coffee with creamer and sugar sitting in front of them. Grant grabbed his jacket from the other end of the table. "I'm going to the fire station and the hospital. I'll let you guys know if Captain Myers wakes up." He left before they could say anything. 

Halstead started serving himself some food. "Is it just me or are these the nicest people to exist?"

"I agree with you. I mean, the guy made us breakfast and they let us use her car." Antonio pulled the keys from his pocket.

"Maybe that's just a Southern thing."

They shrugged and started eating. By the time they got to the police station, Kayla was out on another lead so the two of them were assigned to go check out a few more mansions. It was slow and boring until the radios Kayla gave them started going off every few seconds. They snapped to attention when they swore they heard a gun shot. Then their hearts stopped. "Shots fired at the police, I need backup at 115 Morris road!"

Antonio looked at Jay in panic. "That's Kayla."

"Where is Morris Road?"

Antonio checked his phone. "We are less than half a mile." They hopped in the patrol car and the tires spit up dirt as they sped away. "Chicago unit responding to 115 Morris road."

They came screeching to a halt at the scene. Kayla was kneeling next to someone. It was her cousin, Officer Stevenson. "He was shot in the stomach."

"Chicago unit, roll an ambulance, we have an officer shot, repeat, an officer has been shot."

"So the first time I met you guys, we were going after an insane arsonist, this time it's a gun wielding psychopath." She looked at her cousin's face as she kept pressure on his wound. He was drifting into unconsciousness. "Hey, Everett, stay awake!" Antonio took her place as she grabbed his face with her blood covered hands. "Ever!" His eyes barely opened and he kept rocking his head slowly from side to side. 

The ambulance arrived and took Everett to the hospital. Now the police were swarming the scene. Jay questioned Kayla. "What happened?"

She had finished cleaning off her hands then took her coworkers to the closed front door of a small trailer home. "I was going to check up on Old Larry. He used to be in the military and he somehow manages to legally get his hands on assault rifles only soldiers should have. I thought there was a slight chance Grey could have come here. So he opens his door and sees me. He's fine. He sees Ever's uniform, he freaks out and draws a gun." She pushed the front door open. The coroner arrived as Antonio and Halstead saw the dead old man. "He shot Ever through the door." She looked down and saw blood on her shirt. "I was trying to drag him away after I shot back through the door."

"I'm sorry this happened."

She shrugged. "Everett is tough. But come look at this, I found it interesting." They followed her into the house and she showed them a guest room. The bed was slept in and there was green hoodie on the floor. "Apparently Grey has a thing for green hoodies. I also found a few full magazines in here. I saw this when I looked through the windows. I was doing a walk around to see who could be home."

Antonio sighed as he looked through the piles of firearms. "There hasn't been any sightings as far as Grey goes, right?"

"Right. We need to come up with a way to draw him out." She looked stumped but then smiled. "There is a small diner downtown. We are going to get lunch." Kayla walked to her Interceptor and left the two guys to shake their heads in confusion. 

"She acted like she had an idea but instead we are going to get lunch?"

"Let's just get going before we miss the genius." Antonio said before they got in their borrowed patrol car.

They pulled up to the Soda Shoppe where her Interceptor was parked on the busy street. They got out and went inside, surprised by the interior. It looked like a 1940's diner, complete with the old jukebox. Kayla was sitting in an old wooden booth, talking to a waitress. When the waitress saw Halstead and Antonio walking over to Kayla, she turned and left. Antonio slid in next to Kayla and put his arm on the back of the booth. Halstead sat down but kept looking around at all of the old details, including the titled ceiling. Kayla handed them both menus and when the waitress returned, they ordered before looking at Kayla. 

"What genius idea did you get so suddenly at Old Larry's house?"

"Okay, there is a guy that works in the kitchen here, let's call him an unwilling CI. I overlook his petty crimes if he gives me my information. He always knows what's going on around here and he used to be very close with Old Larry. We are not going to tell him about Larry's current condition but when he comes out here to refill his drink, we can ask him if he knows about any new people Larry was helping."

"How reliable is this guy?"

"100 percent. He knows if a tip is bougous that I'll be all over him."

Their food came out and they sat eating in relative silence. They had just finished when a man around 20 years old came out of the kitchen with a Styrofoam cup in his hands. Kayla tapped Antonio on his forearm and pointed to the guy. He got up and Halstead followed blindly. The two Intelligence detectives stood at the end of the ice cream display case, trapping him behind the counter. Kayla sat on the bar stool in front of him as he kept refilling his drink. "So you got in a little trouble, didn't you Tyler?" He looked up and his expression turned to annoyance. He left his cup on the counter in front of him, walking toward the end of the ice cream case. Kayla followed him along the other side. Tyler's frown deepened when he noticed Antonio and Halstead were in his way. "Yeah, I actually have partners this time. Do you care to sit down?" He was allowed to sit in the chair closest to them. "So, how's Larry?"

"Last I heard, fine. He hasn't gotten any new guns if that's what your worried about."

Kayla shrugged. "Nah. I'm not interested in that. I want to know about his new friend. He was the one that went into my sister's fire station with an M-4. Tell me about him."

Tyler laughed. "You are the only police officer that can be bad cop and good cop at the same time." He sighed. "I just know he's from a big city and he was packing major fire power when he got here. Larry let him go through his arsenal because this guy reminded him of an old war buddy."

"Where does he like to hang out when he's not at Larry's?"

"I don't know. Larry said he was going to scout out competition or something."

Kayla frowned. "Okay. Thanks Tyler. Those parking tickets will disappear. Now get back to work."

He shot out of the chair and nearly ran into a waitress with a tray full of food when he pushed the kitchen door open. 

"Scout out the competition?"

"We need to out units on my sister, Grant, and my mother right now." She pulled the radio out of her jacket pocket. "Unit 587, I need patrol units on Justice Stevenson, Grant Ray, and Gretta Stevenson, we have evidence that Grey will make an attempt on their lives."

"Copy, unit 587."

"Where is your family?" Antonio watched his friend's face, the stress obvious on her attractive features.

"My mother works in the brick factory in Sanford. Justice is probably at home and Grant is still at the hospital."


	8. Down South

It was 3 in the morning when Antonio heard a door open and close downstairs. He was curious so he decided to investigate. He went onto the front porch and saw a light on in the barn. He made his way carefully across the yard in the pitch black and opened the barn door. He found a staircase to his left and went up the steps, finally seeing Kayla lying on a couch, staring at the ceiling. 

"Kayla?"

"Just go back inside. I'm not doing anything interesting."

"Why are you awake?"

She finally looked at him then gestured for the chair next to the couch. He sat down and looked at her. "I have nightmares about being over in Syria and Afghanistan."

He nodded. Suddenly, some odd behavior he previously noticed made sense. "And the reason you weren't super freaked about Everett getting shot-"

"Was because it made my slight PTSD come to light. I'm told I have a tendency to hide what I'm feeling and that it's not healthy for me, that I shouldn't put on a happy face when I am really terrified." She stopped to take a deep breath. "Fighting overseas really messed me up. I can find comfort in some things but it never lasts long. Grant used to be comforting, then I got my dogs, then I met you and we became friends. It just seems I will never be able to leave my soldier days behind me." 

"I can't even imagine." 

"It's like every time someone gets hurt, I'm reliving my best friend getting shot in front of me."

"What happened to you over there?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. Antonio noticed a single tear fall from the corner of her eye. "I had a war buddy, like every soldier does, and his name was Joel Silver. When we were on the ground, he was covering my six because I stupidly ran into heavy enemy fire. The next thing I know, I look back and Joel is on the ground. I didn't have time to check his pulse so I just grabbed him by the vest and took to the safest location I could. It took me a good five minutes to notice that he was dead." Kayla shrugged. "I can't get that blank stare out of my head. He was just staring at me from where I left his body." She stood up and turned around. She walked a few steps to the open window overlooking the woods behind the barn. "You know, almost everyone I know tells me to forget it, to move past, after all, it's been three years. But I can't. I can't move on and have a normal life. I feel like I'm letting everyone in my life down. And it sucks. The mask that I wear is usually enough to keep them happy."

"They don't know that you're suffering."

"I would rather they don't know but I don't want to do this anymore. I'm tired." She had a deep frown on her face. 

When she wrapped her arms around him, she gripped onto the back of his shirt and just held onto Antonio like she was going to lose him at any second. "You will be okay, Kayla. I promise."

"I have never been so afraid. I don't know how to live like a normal person anymore." She tried to pull away from him. "I am not the person I used to be even if I act like it."

Antonio just held on tighter. She got quiet and Antonio looked at her. She was nearly asleep, her face stained with her silent tears. He picked her up and carefully put her on the couch, spreading a quilt over her. He sat in an old armchair by the window and watched over her. 

In the morning, Halstead made his way up the stairs and found the two of them sleeping. Antonio's head was leaned against the back of the chair. Kayla woke up suddenly when Halstead accidently knocked over a bow by the railing. "Whoa, sorry. I didn't know that was there."

She smiled. "Obviously." When Kayla saw Antonio sleeping in the chair, she frowned. "Why is he still out here?"

"Why was he out here in the first place?"

"I don't want to talk about it with you, no offense."

"No, I get it."

She looked confused. "You do?"

"You are a soldier. I do the same things. It's pretty obvious to me what it is." 

"Looking for comfort from someone who doesn't exactly know what you've been through?"

He laughed quietly. "Yeah, I guess. You know, we just hired my old war buddy, we call him Mouse. I think you two would get along."

"I'll keep that in mind next time I plan a visit." 

"Breakfast!" They turned and looked out the window. Grant was on the front porch. 

"You go ahead. I'll wake up Antonio." Halstead nodded and went downstairs. Kayla crouched in front of Antonio and gently tapped his knee. "Antonio, wake up." 

He slowly opened his eyes and saw Kayla. He smiled when he saw her looking up at him. "Hey you. What time is it?" 

Kayla shrugged. "I don't know. Halstead came up here making a ruckus."

Antonio leaned toward her and reached out for her hand. She gave it to him while looking up at him uncertainly. "Keep fighting Sarge." He kissed her on the forehead before they both got up and went inside. 

The group of three walked into the police station and sat down in her office. There was a sticky note on her computer. When she read it, she smiled. "It looks like Ever is too stubborn to die." She opened her email and shook her head. "They caught wind of Grey at the hospital going after Grant but by the time the cops got there, the security guards already ran him off." Kayla frowned and turned to them. "UNC's finest. But my theory was proved correct. He is going after my family." 

"What's our next move?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't you guys go by the fire station and check up on Justice?"

"It's not a crime scene anymore?" 

"It's hard keeping a fire station a crime scene. Especially that one. It's the busiest station we have." Kayla grabbed her keys and headed out to her Interceptor as they grabbed patrol car keys and started going to leave. They saw a patrol car sitting outside the station but the officers were on their phones and didn't even notice Antonio or Jay when they approached the car. They only looked up when Jay knocked on the roof of the car. 

The officers looked up but just looked back down at their phones. The detectives shook their heads in defeat and went inside. The firefighters were all talking in the common area, discussing protocols they had just set up for uninvited guests. Justice noticed the two men at once. 

"Oh, hey. Guys, this is Detective Antonio Dawson and that's Detective Jay Halstead. They are here from Chicago to get the guy that shot Cap."

"Yeah, we just wanted to say sorry for everything that has happened and on behalf of the city of Chicago, sorry this guy got out." 

"No one blames you guys. Can I talk to the two of you?" They nodded and followed Justice out into the apparatus bay. "I know something is wrong with my sister but no amount of coaxing will get her to open up to me. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Antonio shook his head. "I don't think I should be the one to tell you."

Justice shook her head. "Can you at last tell me if it's work related?"

Jay cleared his throat. "I can tell you from past experiences that people who have seen war are good at hiding what they're feeling."

Antonio shot Jay an unhappy glance but Justice looked a little relieved to have even that much information. "Okay. Thanks. Are you going to stick around?"

Jay nodded. "Those patrolmen outside are not paying attention so we figured we could relieve them of their post." Jay winked at Justice as he pulled his radio from pocket. He opened the front door to check the unit number. "Chicago unit relieving unit 742 from their post at fire station 1." The patrolmen must've heard them over the radio because they didn't hesitate to pull out of the parking lot and toward downtown. "So Justice, show us around."


	9. Down South

Jay and Antonio were spending their last few days grasping for straws in terms of hunting down Grey. They had staked out Old Larry's but there was no activity. Meanwhile Antonio was keeping a close eye on Kayla who seemed perfectly normal. It didn't seem to bother her that they couldn't find the man that had a blood lust for her family. 

"I'm going to cover my mother again if you guys want to go to the fire station."

"Why don't you go hang with Justice?"

"Because my mother is technically in Lee County. The sheriff is my buddy so I get extended jurisdiction. I can't promise that for you guys."

"That makes sense. We'll see you later." 

Kayla waved goodbye and went her own way, leaving the other two to the fire station. When they pulled up, the fire truck was pulling out of the station. Since they were borrowing a patrol car, they hit their lights and followed right behind the engine. They made it to the scene of the accident which was a few minutes from the county border. A farmer was trapped underneath a flipped tractor. Justice got out and started giving orders to the linemen. 

"Were you named captain while Myers is out?"

"Yeah. He might be taking early retirement and I will probably be the permanent captain for A shift. Now, let's get to work. We are going to need you for man power."

The firefighter had already placed jacks under the tractor. "Jus, the dirt is too soft, the jacks are sinking."

She bit her lip, reminding the cops of Kayla. "Okay, all of you grab a stable spot. Antonio, when we lift, grab him and pull him out. Halstead, with us." They all pulled but the tractor wouldn't move. "Again!"

There was still very little movement. An ambulance and patrol unit pulled up just in time. The two paramedics freed the guy when everyone picked it up off of him. "Uh, Detective?" The patrolman waved Antonio over. "This man has been shot."

Antonio's eyes widened. "Justice!" Jay heard Antonio and tackled Justice to the ground right as bullets started raining down on them. The four police at the scene started returning fire. "Everyone down!" 

No one hesitated to follow his demand. Halstead and Antonio ran toward the source of the gun shots as soon as there was a pause in gun fire. They saw Grey running into the woods wearing his signature green hoodie. This time they were not going to lose him. Antonio managed to grab his arms and Halstead grabbed his gun. Grey pulled the trigger and Halstead fell back on the ground but he was unharmed, besides the ringing in one ear. Antonio punched Grey and pulled the gun from his hands. While he was distracted, Grey hit him and knocked him to the ground. Halstead kicked Grey's legs from underneath him and he hit his head on the hard ground. 

Halstead pulled the hood off of his head. It wasn't Grey. "Where is Grey Lindman?"

The kid laughed. "I don't know and I wouldn't tell you."

"Where did you get the gun?"

"He gave it to me. I don't know where he got it from." The patrol unit detained the mystery person and dragged him back to their unit. 

"He's getting clever. I don't like this."

"So that guy was a distraction. Why did he need a distraction?"

Halstead shook his head. "We need to get in contact with Kayla right now."

Antonio called her twice but was sent to voicemail both times. "She won't answer." He pulled out his radio. "Chicago unit requesting a location for Detective Ray."

"This is dispatch, her last known location was Lee Brick and Tile. Attention Chicago unit, the police captain requests you call him at soon as he can."

The guy sighed and Halstead dialed the number. 

"I was just in Dispatch and over heard you ask for her last known. Why do you need her last known?"

"We believe that our shooter that unit 310 has in custody was a distraction and we think Grey is going for Kayla or her mother."

"Chicago unit, proceed to Lee Brick and Tile. I am alerting Lee County sheriff and I am giving you extended jurisdiction. Also, be aware two Sanford police detectives and Lee County Sheriff deputies are being dispatched."

"Acknowledged. Chicago unit in transit to Lee Brick." They got in their car and flicked the lights on, speeding down the road. They were going 75 in a 55 but they were desperate to get to the factory. The car spit up dirt and the guard waved them past the gate. They found the main site and there were six sheriff cars and one unmarked which had to be the detectives. 

The detectives were waiting by the door. They handed Halstead a high powered rifle. "Here is the situation. Lindman has the south end of the building as hostage. No one is hurt as far as we know. The remainder of us are going to clear the rest of the building but you two will be sent right into the heart of the situation."

"Have you heard anything from Detective Ray?"

He shook his head. "Not a word. You guys know her, she is a fighter. The fact that she hasn't already taken Grey down really worries me. Now come on, we are heading in."

Antonio adjusted his bulletproof vest and pulled his sidearm. They were pointed in the right direction by the detective. They glanced into the windows onto the factory floor. Kayla was on the ground, an older woman holding her. 

"Kayla." Antonio's jaw tensed and his knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on his gun. 

"That's got to be her mother. We have our two priorities. Let's check for a way in."

They left that door and found another door. It was behind Grey so they would go unnoticed. They opened it slowly and inched their way inside. Mrs.Stevenson noticed them but nervously glanced at Grey. That was when Kayla started to wake up. 

She opened her eyes and sat up, looking right at Grey. "You son of bitch! Leave me and my family alone!"

"I'm going to kill you!" Halstead and Antonio started running toward them but Grey noticed. He knew he was outnumbered so he took off. As Halstead ran past Kayla, he threw her his sidearm. The three police officers started to pursue him. 

They lost sight of him in the storage room. "There is only one way out of here. Antonio, get the door. Jay, let's split up." They nodded and Kayla walked around the towering shelves full of palettes. 

Antonio was keeping his eyes out for any movement. Things were eerily quiet in the storage room. He saw Halstead approaching him from the corner of his eye. "Hey, have you seen him?"

Halstead shook his head. Then they heard multiple deafening gun shots. They both ran toward it's source. Grey was running back toward the main factory "Halstead, go!" He chased after Grey while Antonio looked for his friend. "Kayla!" He heard her cough and he ran to her. Her leg was bleeding profusely and he could see her bleeding from underneath her vest. 

"Antonio. I've been shot."

He got on his knees next to her and looked at all of her blood pooling around them, shaking his head. "Right now, just focus on me. Focus on my voice."

"Halstead is going after Grey, right?"

"Yeah, he's pursuing him now." 

Kayla grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down. "Tell him to kill Grey." Antonio looked at her in surprise. "Tell him that if he gets a shot, take it and make it count." He nodded once before relaying her instructions to Jay. 

Satisfied, she let go of his shirt. "Now, stop talking and just listen to me." She closed her eyes and shook her head. Antonio was panicking. "Chicago unit requesting immediate medical attention. We have an officer with multiple gun shot wounds. We in the storage room in the southeast corner of the building."

Kayla shuddered as if she were cold. "You know, I never thought I would die in a brick factory." Antonio put a hand on her shoulder. She weakly picked her hand up and took hold of his hand. All of the color in her skin was gone. 

"You are not dying in some dirty storage room. Stop thinking like that."

She had a weak smile on her face. He almost continued to protest her negativity but she just shook her head. "Don't. I can feel it."

Antonio looked up when he heard voices. "Help! Over here!" 

The firefighters and paramedics made Antonio get out of the way as they started assessing her injuries. Jay returned, unarmed. "Oh my God, Kayla!" He tried to run to her but someone stopped him.

Antonio stood silently, a terrible feeling in his stomach. "Did you get him?"

Jay nodded slowly. "I got him right behind the heart. He was drowning in his own blood. To him, that was a slow painful death."

Antonio was still watching them try to keep her alive. "I should've been covering her."

Jay realized they couldn't do anything and that Antonio needed to stay away in case things didn't go their way. "Come on, man. Let's go." Jay nearly had to drag Antonio away from her. All the while, the man was carrying the immense sadness that came along with such a terrible tragedy.


	10. Chapter 10

They weren't allowed enough time to see her in the hospital. They were called back to Chicago by Voight. Neither Jay nor Antonio had heard from Kayla, Grant, or Justice. They had called her, even Voight called, but they got no response. 

Antonio glanced at the picture on his desk. Halstead shook his head. "She'll get in touch."

"I know. But we haven't heard from her in 3 months."

"When we left, she was seriously hurt. She needs her time to get back to normal."

"Yeah, I get that." He checked his phone again, checking to see if Kayla had texted him. A smile spread across his face. "Jay, Kayla just texted me. She's here."

"Why is she here?" 

Antonio shrugged and grabbed his leather jacket off the back of his chair. "I don't know." He headed downstairs and saw Grant texting on his phone. As Antonio approached him, Grant walked away to take a phone call, exposing Kayla talking to Platt. "Kayla!"

She used her forearm crutches to turn herself to face him as she flipped her red hair over her shoulder. The bottom half of her left leg was gone. "Antonio!"

He carefully hugged her and she hugged him back, the crutches hanging off of her wrists. He made sure she was able to catch her balance before he looked at her. "I am so glad to see you. I've been trying to get in contact with you for months."

"I know. I kept breaking my phones when I was learning how to walk cause sometimes I would wake up and forget my leg was gone so I just gave up on trying to keep one. I just got a new one since I've finally got the hang of these things." She looked down at her crutches.

"I can only assume this has to do with where you were shot?"

She nodded. "They couldn't get the bleeding to stop so they applied a tourniquet. But I had already lost too much blood and it was save my leg or save my life so... the choice was made."

"It's good to see that this hasn't slowed you down much."

She shrugged. "It made moving difficult."

"Moving?"

She beamed brightly. "We got an apartment here. I told Grant about how you raved about the fire department and he agreed that we should move up here, even if I don't have a job." 

"So then what are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't figured that out yet."

Grant came back into the precinct and waved at Kayla. "Honey, we gotta go. Your parents just landed. Oh, hey Antonio."

"Hey Grant." He faced Kayla again. "I guess I'll see you around." He watched her walk away and Grant help her struggle down the stairs.

Antonio ran upstairs and entered Voight's office. His sergeant looked up from his phone. "What's up Antonio?"

"I just saw Kayla. She lost part of her leg and now she lives in a strange city."

Voight was not following. "Okay. So?"

"You offered her a job before all of this. Can you find something for her? She is one of us."

Voight nodded and looked down. "You're right. She is one of us. I'll get her a job, don't worry. And her husband is a firefighter, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I might be able to pull some strings and get him placed at station 51."

The next day, Antonio invited her out with him and his kids. She met him at the park with a huge smile on her face. When she saw Eva and Diego, she started fawning over them. "Oh my gosh, you guys are so cute. I love your hair Eva. Those curls are so adorable."

The kids were confused. Antonio laughed at their expressions before he introduced her. "Guys, meet my friend Kayla Ray. She's a firefighter, a detective, a soldier, and a true hero." Kayla shook her head and blushed. Diego saluted Kayla who did her best to salute back and Eva happily shook her hand. 

Antonio took a picture of the three of them together and Eva was going on and on about how she was going to do a paper on Kayla. "So I'm supposed to find someone that is a hero to me and I was going to do Ariana Grande but I want to do you instead."

Kayla agreed. "I would be honored. Now go run and play, it's beautiful out."

Antonio helped her walk over the rocky terrain to get to a bench where they sat down together. Kayla watched the kids while Antonio turned and looked at her. When she noticed Antonio staring, she just raised an eyebrow. 

Before she had a chance to say anything, Antonio interrupted her. "I'm sorry but I need to ask. Are you okay?"

She took a moment and looked at the ground. "I am really happy, happier than I've been. I don't know why but maybe it's because my fight is over. I'm done going after psychopathic killers who made me into a lower limb amputee. I'm sure I'll get bored eventually but for now, I think I'm okay."

"What if I told you that Voight has a job for you?"

She let out a sigh of relief that made Antonio laugh. "Oh, thank God. I was afraid if I didn't have a job I would turn into painter and that is not something I want."

"Voight worked out a desk job for you. You'll assist Sergeant Platt."

"This'll keep me out of trouble. Plus, I'll get to hang out with my favorite detectives."

"I thought that was the coolest part about your new job. You start in two days."

On her first day, Antonio helped her up the stairs and she stopped on the landing, nervously fixing her uniform. "What do you think? Do I represent the Chicago Police Department well?"

"I think we are incredibly lucky to have you on our force." When they finally got up the rest of the stairs, the entire Intelligence unit as well as Officers Burgess and Roman were waiting at the top with Platt standing front and center. 

"So, this is my new partner?" She looked at Kayla closely. The new officer nervously bit her lip. Sergeant Platt smiled, something that no one really ever saw. "Let's get to work." Everyone except Halstead, Voight, Mouse, and Antonio walked back upstairs to work. While the 3 detectives talked off to the side, Mouse nervously approached Kayla. 

"Uh, Kayla?" She gave him a dazzling smile and he relaxed. "I'm Mouse. I'm the tech freak for the Intelligence unit."

"You are Jay's war buddy. It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, it's great to meet you. I'm sorry that last case did... that." He was looking at her stub. 

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to snap if you say it."

He blushed and looked away awkwardly. "You never know." Kayla looked away to wave at the captain as he walked by. Mouse continued to question her. "Did you ever think something like this would happen to you in civilian life?"

"I'm a police officer, I knew I would more likely get hurt here than over there."

Mouse nodded in understanding. "Well if you ever want to get together and talk, I'm down."

"Yeah, I'm down. Let's go get something to drink after work today. You can show me all the good bars around here." He smiled and nodded at his new friend before Halstead called Mouse over to him. 

Voight interrupted them. "Come on Kayla. You should probably sit down." He took her to the other side of the desk and showed her the tall padded wheeled chair they got just for her and the hook they put in the counter for her to hang her crutches. She sat on her chair and turned to Voight. 

"Thank you for everything you've done for me. I really will never be able to thank you enough."

"Please, I wanted to do this. You are one of us and we take care of our own. Now, you better get to work before Platt gets to you."

He left and Jay and Mouse both said goodbye as they headed up. Antonio went behind the desk and put a hand on her shoulder. "I am so glad you are here."

"I really need to thank you. My life was going down the drain until I met you. Now you are giving me a way to keep helping others even if I'm not the one chasing the bad guy."

"You will always be important, always be my hero. That's why I love you." He pulled her down towards him and kissed the side of her head. 

"I love you too Antonio." He let her go and saw her shivering from the chilly air conditioning. He pulled off his leather jacket and helped her into it. She just shook her head in disbelief as she smiled. 

"Keep it. It looks pretty awesome on you."

Platt walked over and stood between the two friends. "Alright, break it up love birds." She started pushing Antonio toward the end of the desk. 

He protested. "Uh, she married Sarge."

"I don't care. Go." He finally started walking on his own and he over exaggerated his shrug and it made Kayla laugh. "Dawson, keep walking! You are distracting my new partner!"


End file.
